With Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the US, it seems that the global climate scene has changed for good.
Although the Trump era has been characterized by a growth in investment in renewable energy in the US, with a decrease in costs, with Biden this seems to be supported in a more direct way from the public sector.
In any case, that "green" future that many dream of is still far away.
Total Energy Supply, 2018
Fuente: IEA https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics?country=CHINAREG&fuel=Energy%20supply&indicator=TPESbySource
As we can see in the graph, more than 80% of the energy comes from non-renewable energy sources that are highly polluting for the atmosphere, such as oil, coal and natural gas.
In the same way, we see that the main causes of CO2 emissions are the energy companies themselves:
CO2 Emission by Sector, 2018
Fuente: IEA https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics?country=CHINAREG&fuel=Energy%20supply&indicator=TPESbySource
Furthermore, the global CO2 emissions do not stop increasing, with Asia as the main emitter.
At the same time, there is also nuclear fission energy (what we popularly call nuclear) which, despite not generating polluting gases, it does generate highly toxic and durable waste. Despite the controversy, nuclear energy may represent an alternative for the energy transition towards a renewable mix.
Therefore, that green future that many of us imagine is still far away. The target date set by the European Union is to have zero net emissions by 2050.
Let us remember that Europe is the most responsible region in terms of CO2 emissions: since 1990 it has managed to reduce them by 23%. In any case, we have to keep in mind that Europe is only 9.5% of the world's population.
With all this on the table, we see that achieving net zero emissions globally seems like a difficult long-term goal, almost even for this century.
Once again, active policies will lead the way to a greener future. For now, with Biden as a new US president and Boris Johnson's new plan, which aims to ban the sale of polluting vehicles by 2030, the way is paved for those of us who believe in a more sustainable future. However, there are still many obstacles to overcome.